"BIG BERTHA."

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 233, 1 October 1932, Page 9

"BIG BERTHA."

LABOUR'S POP-GUN. PRIME MINISTER SATIRICAL. ECONOMISTS AND CURRENCY. SEARCH FOR GUIDANCE. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. . The situation which arose in the House on Thursday night over the conflict of amendments was the subject of several satirical thrusts by the Prime Minister, the Ht. Hon. G. W. Forbes, in the course of a brief contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate last evening. "I am afraid the Leader of the Opposition found his amendment too lengthy to be handled with ease," said Mr. Forbes. "In the first place it took him an hour and three-quarters to get a shot out of it! It reminded one of the Big Bertha during the war. (Laughter.) But when Mr. Ruehworth moved his amendment the motion was brought down to a reasonable size." "Yes, you worked it very well," commented Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister: It is now more the size of a pop-gun than when it first started. "Will you let us into the secret ae to how you worked it?" persisted Mr. Holland. Mr. Forbes said the original want-of-confidence motion would have been better had it been less ambitious. The speeches made in support of it were of familiar brand and contained the usual vague generalities regarding banking, currency, State control of the note issue, and so on. Running through the addresses was the suggestion that if the Labour party ever attained office the mortey of the people should be taken hold of so that a policy which would prove popular for a very short time could be put into operation. "I think the common sense of the people of New Zealand," continued the Prime Minister, "can be relied upon to see the fallacy of a great many of the arguments advanced in a that respect." Shower Of Suggestions. Concerning the proposals regarding the financial position, Mr. Forbes disclosed that the Government had received one constant shower of suggestions as to how everything could be put right. And nearly every one of them proposed a different remedy! Under those circumstances it was difficult to see how a clear lead could be obtained. Reference had been made by Mr. Ruehworth to the impossibility of assimilating the views of 100 economists, and he could understand the state of bewilderment which would follow any attempt to arrive at definite conclusions after studying a host of authorities on the subject. Each had different ideas, and while one had something to gain from the way economists marshalled the facts and presented the evidence, when it came down to the search for practical guidance the writers became delightfully vague, with one set of views opposing another. "An Evasion." Replying to the proposition Mr. Rushworth had advanced in his amendment, the Prime Minister said, that there was a petition now before the House dealing with remedial measures, and when it came before the appropriate Select Committee it would be competent for that body to hear the views of others who had remedies to suggest. "That is an evasion;, we want an examination into the existing system," interjected Mr. H. M. Ruehworth (Country, Bay of Islands). The Prime Minister: A committee does not stick to any fixed lines. It can cover the whole field. "We have stability in politics in New Zealand," said Mr. Forbes, when referring to the findings of the Ottawa currency committee, "and the vote on the Address-in-Eeply will be an answer to those in this House who doubt as to whether there is stability in politics here."